careened over, and seemed
to shoot us both out into the river.

For a few moments the water thundered in my ears; the great fish, which
must have been a gar pike, tugged at my hand, broke away, and I was
swimming with the black head of the boy close by me, as we struggled as
quickly as we could to the bank, reached it together, climbed out, and I
dropped down into a sitting position, with my companion staring
wonderingly at me.

His aspect was so comical, and his eyes sought mine in such a wondering
way, as if asking me whether this was the way I went fishing, that I
burst out into an uncontrollable roar of laughter, when, to my utter
astonishment, the sad black face before me began to expand, the eyes to
twinkle, the white teeth to show, and for the first time perhaps for
months the boy laughed as merrily as I did.

Then, all at once, I remembered the boat, which was floating steadily
away down stream toward the big river, and pointing to it, I ran as far
as I could along the bank, and plunged in to swim out and secure it.

There was another plunge and the boy was by my side, and we swam on, he
being ready to leave me behind, being far more active in the water than
I. But he kept waiting for me, till I pointed on at the boat, and he
seemed to understand, and went on.

The boat had gone into a swift current, and it was a long way from where
I swam, and by degrees I began to find that I had rather miscalculated
my strength. I was only lightly clad, but my clothes began to feel
heavy, the banks to look a long way off, and the boat as far; while all
at once the thought struck me, after I had been swimming some time, that
I should never be able to reach the boat or the shore.

I tried to get rid of the fancy, but it would not go, and one effect of
that thought was to make me swim more quickly than I should have done,
or, as I should express it, use my limbs more rapidly than I ought, so
that I was quickly growing tired, and at last so utterly worn out that a
cold chill came over me. I looked despairingly to right and left at the
beautiful tree-hung river-side, and then forward to where the boy had
just reached the boat, and saw him climb in, the sun shining upon his
wet back.

"Hi! Boy!" I shouted, "take the oars, and row."

I might as well have held my tongue, for he could not understand a word;
and as I shouted again and again I looked at him despairingly, for he
was sitting on the thwart laughing, with the